Saudi Arabia is making a major gamble in Yemen

Supporters of Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, the son of Yemen's former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, demonstrate to demand for a presidential elections be held and for him to run for presidency in Sanaa March 10, 2015. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah (Reuters) - Warplanes from Saudi Arabia and Arab allies struck Shi'ite Muslim rebels fighting to oust Yemen's president on Thursday, in a major gamble by the world's top oil exporter to check Iranian influence in its backyard without direct military backing from Washington.

Iran denounced the surprise assault on its proteges in the Houthi militia group and made clear Saudi Arabia's deployment of a Sunni coalition against its Shi'ite enemies would complicate efforts to end a conflict that will only inflame the sectarian hatreds already fuelling wars around the Middle East.

The Saudi intervention marked a major escalation of the Yemen crisis, in which Iran backs the Houthis, and Sunni Muslim monarchies in the Gulf support President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his fellow Sunni loyalists in Yemen's south.

In the capital Sanaa, which Houthi rebels seized in September, warplanes bombed the main airport and the nearby al Dulaimi military air base, residents said, in an apparent attempt to weaken the Houthis' air power and ability to fire missiles.

A Reuters witness said four or five houses had been damaged. Rescue workers put the death toll from at 13, including a doctor pulled from the rubble of his clinic.

In a day of fighting, warplanes struck Houthi fighters near Yemen's border with Saudi Arabia, tribal and Houthi sources said.

Fighters loyal to Hadi retook Aden airport, a day after it was captured by forces allied to the Houthis advancing on the city. The facility remains closed and flights are canceled. Saudi Arabia also canceled flights to its southern airports.

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STREET FIGHTING

There was also heavy street fighting in Houta, north of Aden, which killed 5 pro-Houthi fighters and 4 militiamen.

Thousands of Houthi supporters gathered to condemn the air strikes at the gate to Sanaa's old city, waving Houthi banners and chanting, "Death to America!"

"We will do whatever it takes in order to protect the legitimate government of Yemen from falling," Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, Adel al-Jubeir, told a news conference in Washington.

Hadi left Aden under Saudi protection for Egypt to attend an Arab summit on Saturday, Saudi-owned al Arabiya television said.

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In an apparent reference to Iran, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said the operation aimed to counter the "aggression of Houthi militias backed by regional powers".

Al-Arabiya said the kingdom was contributing 100 warplanes to operation "Storm of Resolve" and more than 85 were provided by the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Morocco and Sudan.

Jordan and Sudan said their forces were involved in the operation. Egyptian air forces were participating, and four naval ships headed to secure the Gulf of Aden.

Turkey said it may provide logistical support to the Saudi-led operation and called on Iranand "terrorist groups" to withdraw. Pakistan was considering a request for ground forces.

A Saudi official familiar with defense matters told Reuters that a "land offensive might be needed to restore order." Anti-Houthi protesters demonstrate in Yemen's southwestern city of Taiz March 23, 2015. Reuters Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Ministry demanded an immediate halt to the "aggression and air strikes" in Yemen, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters: "Iran will use all possible political ways to allay tension in Yemen. Military intervention is not an option for Tehran."

A United Arab Emirates official expressed Gulf Arab concerns about Iranian influence inYemen.

"The strategic change in the region benefits Iran and we cannot be silent about the fact that the Houthis carry their banner," UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Mohammed Gargash wrote on Twitter.

An armed man gestures as he stands on the rubble of houses destroyed by an air strike near Sanaa Airport March 26, 2015. Khaled Abdullah/Reuters

RED LINE

Saud al-Sarhan, director of research at King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh: "It is a clear message on the 'Saudi defense doctrine'. Security and stability in the Arabian Peninsula is a red line, and Saudi Arabia doesn't tolerate any attempt to destabilize the region."

While the advance against Hadi has been publicly led by the Houthis, many Yemenis believe the real instigator of their campaign is former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, a fierce critic of Hadi who retains influence in the army.

Yemen's slide towards civil war has made it a crucial front in Saudi Arabia's rivalry with Tehran, which Riyadh accuses of stirring up sectarian strife throughout the region and inYemen with its support for the Houthis. Iran publicly denies funding and training the Houthis.

Houthi rebels ride a truck in Sanaa February 15, 2015. Tens of thousands of Yemenis demonstrated in several cities on Saturday against the rule of the Shi'ite Muslim Houthi movement as clashes between Houthis and Sunnis in a southern mountainous region left 26 dead. Reuters Fighting has spread across Yemen since the Houthis seized Sanaa and forced Hadi out of the capital.

Ambassador Jubeir said the assaults were in response to a request by Hadi.

Washington said it supported the operation and had authorized U.S. logistical and intelligence support. U.S. forces were not involved in direct military action in Yemen. France and Britain also backed the operation but the European Union said military action was not a solution.

A Houthi leader said the air strikes would set off a "wide war" in the region.

Houthi-run al-Masirah television said the strikes had hit a residential neighborhood north of Sanaa and caused dozens of casualties.

Civil defence workers and people search for survivors under the rubble of houses destroyed by an air strike near Sanaa Airport March 26, 2015. Khaled Abdullah/Reuters Al-Masirah showed the body of a girl and several of the wounded, including a weeping man who said the strikes had killed his son and destroyed his home.

A widening Yemen conflict could pose risks for global oil supplies, and oil prices surged more than 4 percent on Thursday.

Yemen closed its main ports. But the U.S. military said it would help ensure the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the tip of the Red Sea remains open.